The fact that Minecraft hasn't even reached Beta hasn't stopped it from being one of the most popular new games on the market.

Categorized as a "3D sandbox" game for PC, Minecraft players use textured blocks to build everything from houses to roller coasters. The classic version of the game is free of cost, and lets players exercise their creativity by building structures with unlimited blocks. It also offers survival mode, which expands the variety of items available and adds monsters. The latest implementation of the game is the Alpha version, and while it is not free, it is the only version that is currently updated regularly.

As of Halloween day, sales of Minecraft reached half a million copies, an impressive feat for a simple game which took only a week of work, primarily by a single developer, Markus "Notch" Persson, before its initial release. To put this success into perspective, the first iteration of Blizzard's Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty is rumoured to have racked up over $30 million in development costs.

But as Blizzard's profits are cut significantly by its investment into development, Persson continues to spend a tiny percentage of profits on development by employing only the most necessary of help. Over 1.6 million registered users aren't arguing with the retro design and simplicity of the game as they continue to be satisfied by frequent updates and constantly expanding functionality. Even the most respected of critics have endlessly praised the game, and it has been hailed many times as being one of the most addictive new games on the market.

While Persson is the primary developer of this unexpected success, friends and co-workers played a small part in the initial development, through the scale of their assistance has never been fully addressed.

With so many fans waiting eagerly for as much Minecraft as they can get their hands on, Persson has since formed a small gaming company and hired an artist, additional programmers and a handful of others to let him devote his time more completely to the game's development. Together with his business partner, an unnamed "friend," Persson has also begun work on a second game, the details of which have yet to be released.

The next major update to get fans excited is the addition of an another multiplayer mode, called "survival mode multiplayer" — currently the company's top priority. With the hiring of an artist by the name of "Junkboy" to the Minecraft team, the graphics will also be getting a much-needed makeover. Fans claim that the subpar graphics style is part of the charm and appeal of the game, but they certainly aren't easy on the eyes and leave much to be desired. Junkboy is well known for his pixel art game "demakes," and is expected to bring a style update to the game while leaving it with its classic 8-bit touch.

Whether you've experienced Minecraft firsthand or not, you can be sure the game has nowhere to go but up, as its hundreds of thousands of fans ravenously await each and every update. If fans continue to be satisfied by such simplicity, Persson's company may prove to be one of the newest gaming superpowers in the market.